Arts
Dave Gunning enjoys being "at home" when he is on the road.
No place like home
BOB BALE
Summer 2009 |
While chairs are being set up in the family room, Sue sets out the snacks for about 50 guests. There is a sense of excitement in the air as Dave conducts the final sound check. As show time nears, the street in the South-End neighbourhood fills with cars.
Concert-goers arrive, pay the admission fee, and don a name badge that eliminates the “what if I can’t remember their names,” anxiety that is common in meeting new people.
Newcomers are easy to spot. They hover on the edges of the room until they are drawn into animated conversations by veteran attendees.
Show time arrives. Lights are dimmed, telephones are turned off, and Dave takes the “stage” to a room that has grown silent in anticipation of the show.
The host introduces the artist, outlining his accomplishments including his East Coast Music Awards in 2008 as Male Artist of the Year and Best Folk Album of the Year. Dave steps to the microphone and puts the audience quickly at ease with his self-deprecatory humour.
“Well I hope he didn’t get your hopes up too much. I’ll try not to crap the bed.”
He launches into a song with a warm voice and superb guitar playing. The magic of music begins.
Throughout his current 21-date tour of Ontario, Dave has been performing new tunes. The songs will be recorded on his seventh album, due for release in July. Although many in the audience have seen Dave on stage or on television specials, having him sing “up close and personal” is an experience that few venues can match.
The origin of house concerts in Canada is uncertain. It is generally believed they began in the northern regions of British Columbia and the Northwest Territories where there are a lack of venues.
House concerts have grown in popularity and are now widespread throughout North America.
Many music lovers view them as the ultimate concert experience where they are able to see some of the finest folk, blues or jazz performers in intimate settings. Mingling with the artists and hearing the stories behind the songs are a major factor in the success of this type of show.
In addition to the numerous house concert presenters in Ontario (including the popular Sudbury house concert series co-ordinated by Scott Merrifield under the Northern Lights Festival banner), there are now formalized series that set up complete tours by matching performers with willing hosts.
The most popular of these is the Home Routes series throughout Western Canada, organized by Mitch Podolak, founder of the Vancouver and Winnipeg Folk Festivals. Podolak has set up three separate house concert tours that have performers playing 10 to 12 consecutive house concert dates as they travel through Western Canada.
House concerts hold amazing value for the performer including the opportunity to play for attentive audiences. CD sales, plus the admission fee (which ranges from $15 to $20 per person), provide a source of income that compares with gig fees paid by larger venues.
Performers are frequently fed and billeted by hosts. This greatly reduces the cost of travel for these wandering minstrels.
House concert hosts generally are avid music lovers with a desire to share music with friends, co-workers, family and anyone else who has a high regard for live music.
If you have space in your home to accommodate 20 people or more, then you can be a potential host. An L-shaped living room/dining room combination is ideal. The temporary removal of larger pieces of furniture frees up space to set up folding chairs, which are either rented or borrowed.
A popular summer house concert setting is a backyard or deck where a fair-sized crowd can assemble. It is generally wise to invite neighbours and to end the show before either the mosquitoes or noise police arrive.
Back at the Bale home, Dave mingles with the audience at intermission. Drinks are replenished, and he modestly basks in the praise for his high quality performance.
While he frequently plays in sold-out Atlantic Canada venues of 1,200, he clearly enjoys the pleasure of mixing with this much smaller crowd.
To the delight of the crowd, Gunning calls upon Sudbury’s Jeff Wiseman to join him in the second set. They combine outstanding musicianship with harmonies in a performance that can only be described as heavenly. The audience and the players seem bound together by the force of the music and the shared energy in the room.
Following the show, I ask first-time house concert attendee Gisele McVittie for her impressions of the night.
“I thought I would be intimidated. I’m very glad I came. I’m truly amazed as everything was absolutely perfect. I’m so glad I took this opportunity to see Dave. The whole evening was so intimate. As far as Dave goes, he is not just a great performer. In talking to him at the show, I can see that he is a great guy as well.”
About the writer: Bob Bale is a Sudbury concert performer. For more information about hosting house concerts, phone 532-6200.
